Vance says Trump’s plan to end war in Ukraine could include creation of demilitarized zone

Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance (Ohio) recently outlined the Trump administration’s potential approach to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying that former President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict could include establishing a “demilitarized zone” on Ukrainian territory currently occupied by Russia.

This approach would mark a sharp shift from the Biden administration’s policy, which focuses on providing military and other assistance, working with Europe and other allies, to help Ukraine repel and reverse Russian aggression.

“I think Trump is sitting down and saying to the Russians, the Ukrainians and the Europeans: You have to figure out what a peaceful settlement looks like. And that probably looks like the current dividing line between Russia and Ukraine, which is becoming a kind of demilitarized zone,” Sen. Vance said Wednesday on “The Shawn Ryan Show.”

The proposed demilitarized zone, Vance added, would be “heavily fortified so that the Russians do not invade the country again.” Under the peace plan, he added, Ukraine would maintain its independence in exchange for a guarantee of neutrality, meaning it would not join NATO or other “allied institutions.”

Vance did not specify who would control the “demilitarized zone,” but he said the “current demarcation line” would remain in place, meaning Ukraine would not get back territory that Russia currently occupies. It is unclear whether the proposed demilitarized zone would be on territory currently occupied by Russia or Ukraine.

Throughout the war, Ukraine, with the support of the United States and NATO, insisted on the return of all of its sovereign territory. NATO committed to Ukraine being part of the Alliance and put it on the path to membership.

Vance’s comments constitute the most explicit and recent war plan proposed to date by the Republican ticket.

Trump has said that if elected, he would end the war. This week, during the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, he said that if elected in November, he would “achieve it before I even become president.” He has not spelled out his plan explicitly, however, suggesting that making his strategy public would weaken his negotiating position.

“I have a very specific plan to stop Ukraine and Russia. And I have a certain idea, maybe not a plan, but an idea for China,” Trump said last week in a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, later adding: “But I can’t give you those plans because if I give them to you, I can’t use them. They’re going to be ineffective. Part of it is surprise.”

In his interview with Ryan, Vance said it was “wrong” and “misguided” to view the conflict as “the great humanitarian mission of our time,” adding that it was a “fairy tale mentality” to view the war as a battle between “good and evil.” During the interview, he also said that Russia “should not have invaded” Ukraine, but that “Ukrainians also have a lot of corruption problems.”

Since launching an invasion in February 2022, Russia now controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory – including Crimea, which it illegally annexed in 2014, as well as parts of the eastern Donbass region – and a significant additional area stretching from north to south to east.

While some Republican lawmakers are among Ukraine’s strongest supporters, others are increasingly reluctant to continue providing federal funding for the war, arguing that the money would be better spent on domestic issues such as securing the U.S. southern border.

People who discussed Trump’s proposal to resolve the conflict, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, told The Washington Post in April that his plan was to push Ukraine to cede Crimea and the border region of Donbass to Russia.

“There’s a lot of risk in staying there and trying to encourage the Ukrainians to hold on to Crimea. The question is, how many American lives would it cost? And if the answer is greater than zero, then I’m out,” Vance, a Marine veteran, said in the interview with Ryan. Although the U.S. military has trained Ukrainian forces in parts of Europe, there have been no U.S. troops in Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and Biden has promised there won’t be any.

In response to Vance’s recent comments, Harris’ campaign highlighted the vice president’s speech in June at a peace summit.

Harris referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cease-fire proposal this month that would require Ukraine to withdraw its troops from four Russian-occupied territories, the West to lift sanctions on Russia and Ukraine to abandon its bid to join NATO. In her speech, Harris said Putin was “not calling for negotiations. He’s calling for surrender.”

Vance also said Europe had “underfunded this war while American taxpayers have been very generous,” a charge often made by Trump, who falsely claimed during Tuesday’s debate that the United States had spent $250 billion to $275 billion on Ukraine, more than twice as much as Europe.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, as of June 30, European countries, which have much smaller economies, collectively spent and allocated significantly more than the United States. As a percentage of its economy, the United States ranks lower than 21 other countries, the institute said.

Vance went on to say that the Biden administration’s policy is to “throw money at this problem (and) hope that the Ukrainians are able to achieve a military victory that even the Ukrainians say (they) can’t achieve,” Vance added. “Donald Trump’s policy is yes, be strong, but also be smart. Negotiate.”

Several Trump advisers have presented similar plans, including one released this summer by Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, both Trump’s National Security Council chiefs of staff. Their proposal, which they said had been presented to the former president, also called for telling Ukraine it would no longer receive U.S. aid if it did not accept a peace brokered by him.

A 10-point peace plan presented to the United Nations in September 2022 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky included a complete Russian withdrawal and the restoration of pre-2014 borders, as well as an international tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.

Putin, who claims historic ownership of Ukraine – part of the former Soviet Union – has said he is ready to negotiate, but must do so on his terms. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said any peace plan must take into account “the reality on the ground” and Russia’s retention of territory it currently occupies – crimes for which the International Criminal Court has already issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.